What must it be like to be Keith Richards, a man so recognisable and so wealthy, for practically all his adult life, that to engage in normal human activities within normal human environments must be generally out of the question? How does one live as a human being in that environment?

 
Make music, of course. With his fellow 'cats', that is what he has alway been about ever since the early 60s. But, apart from touring with the Stones, and making the odd guest appearance, he's not done a great deal of original music making since his two previous solo albums, Talk is Cheap in 1988 and 1992's Main Offender. The Stones themselves have only released three studio albums since 1994, the last one ten years ago. A shame really, because Crosseyed Heart is a fine album, from a man who can obviously write a good tune or two…
 
Following from his recent criticisms of the psychedelic period of both his band and The Beatles ("Sgt. Pepper is a load of shit"), it's also to be expected that Richards continues to spend his time exploring the raw and natural tones and structures of blues, country, soul, and good ole' rock'n'roll. Not only that but he's reverted back (as so many are nowadays) to recording on analogue, which he thinks provides a fuller, and warmer sound than the cold and artificial binary system of digital. And you can hear that throughout; there's a live and lively feel that isn't so far off the old blues records he used to play as a kid, and even the Stones' records of their 60s and 70s heyday.
 
Finding it difficult to get the band he wanted to make the record during some Stones downtime, he decided to cut some tracks with just him and long time collaborator, co-writer and drummer Steve Jordan, and then invite his chosen musicians to come in and finish the job when available, including Waddy Wachtel, Bobby Keys, Larry Campbell, Ivan Neville, Norah Jones, Charles Hodges, Pina Palladino and Spooner Oldham.
 
Starting off with just Richards on acoustic guitar for the bluesy title track, there follows a few Stonesy style numbers including the melodic and driving rocker Heartstopper, Trouble (both songs hark back to the Exile on Main Street and Some Girls period) and the gently chopping grooves of Amnesia, perhaps the most leftfield track here, the lyrics based on the story of his falling out of a tree, and containing dreamlike blowbacks to late 60s/early 70s Stones piano, when Ian Stewart was often on the stool, honking sax courtesy of another long time Stones associate, sax player Bobby Keys (who passed away shortly after), and a backwards guitar solo. Keys also features on the raunchy and very live sounding Blues in the Morning, while the Harlem Gospel Choir appear on the Stonesy mid-tempo grooves of Something For Nothing, its basic lick not a million miles away from Shattered, off the Some Girls album.
 
Then there's the cover of the Gregory Isaacs reggae song Love Overdue, the slower tempo of Nothing On Me, a song that harks back to his drug busting days, and a couple of wonderful ballads in the form of the countryfied dry wit of Robbed Blind – again a story about money and drugs, and which features Richards playing some nice fills on piano – and Suspicious, one of several heartbreak songs. Norah Jones (whose father of course taught the likes of Brian Jones and George Harrison the subtleties of the sitar back in the 60s) co-writes and duets beautifully on the spacious and dreamy Illusion, perhaps the most contemporary sounding song here. Throughout, his booze and fag soaked voice is in fine form, now having evolved into a pleasing amalgam of Mark Knopfler, Tom Waits and Lou Reed.
 
Combining heartfelt tributes such as on the old American folk standard Goodnight Irene, a song made famous by Richards fan Leadbelly, with some studio jams such as the funky Substantial Damage, Richards sounds like he is having a fine old time, getting down to what he does best, if only he could be arsed to do it a bit more regularly….
Jeff Hemmings